Ballard Earns Fourth SEC Weekly Honor

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - For the fourth time this season, LSU guard Danielle Ballard has been named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week after leading the Lady Tigers past Mississippi State, the league office announced Monday morning.

Ballard, a native of Memphis, Tenn., poured in a game-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and four steals as LSU rolled past the Lady Bulldogs, 63-41, on Sunday in Starkville. It represented the sixth time in eight games that Ballard recorded at least four steals. It was also her highest scoring output since scoring 24 in the SEC opener against Ole Miss on Jan. 3.

Ballard continues to rank second among all SEC freshmen in scoring (12.6 ppg), rebounding (6.4 rpg) and field goal percentage (42.2). She leads the SEC in steals with 3.1 per game, while her 78 total steals rank 10th in LSU single-season annals. With her four steals on Sunday, Ballard moved into third place in LSU all-time freshman steals, just eight shy of tying Joyce Walker's record of 86 set during the 1980-81 season.

Ballard is the second LSU player to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors four times in a season. LaSondra Barrett also achieved the feat during the 2008-09 season. Ballard was the recipient of the award on Nov. 26, Dec. 24 and Jan. 7.

Ballard and the Lady Tigers travel to face Missouri at 8 p.m. CT Thursday in Columbia before returning home to host No. 8 Kentucky at 2 p.m. CT Sunday. Thursday's contest will be televised by Fox Sports Southwest and ESPN3.com. Sunday's game will not be televised.